The use of single use disposable suction catheters to remove accumulated sputum and mucous from a patient's airway is well known and widely used. These catheters require sterile handling of the device as by using protective gloves to protect the user from infectious diseases.
Endotracheal suctioning usually requires disconnecting the ventilator breathing circuit from the patient. Not having to disconnect the ventilator to suction the patient has many medical benefits. These benefits are described in great detail in the prior art first disclosed in the devices of Dryden, U.S. Pat. No. 3,902,500, and Bodai in U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,328.
Further, a multitude of closed suction and ventilating devices which do not require ventilation circuit disconnection have been disclosed including U.S. Pat. No. 3,991,762 to Radford; U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,350 to Jackson; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,696,296 and 4,638,539 to Palmer; U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,255 to Lambert; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,611 to Hodgkins. All the devices described in the above patents use an irrigation port located at the distal end of the device and accessing the outside of the catheter. In addition, all such devices have normally closed suction control valves with mechanisms which obstruct fluid flow.
All these devices also have a removable closure cap on the irrigation port which, if left open, can permit vital administered ventilator oxygen to escape to atmosphere. The patient can be deprived of this oxygen if the user forgets to close the irrigation port cap. The device of Palmer, U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,296, has been commercialized, but it is very expensive, presently selling at over $15 to the hospital compared with a sterile disposable suction catheter including gloves at only $0.50 each. Accordingly, most hospitals reserve the Palmer device for only the most critically ill patients in the intensive care units and require that the rest of the patients use the cheaper disposable suction catheters.
Most recently, the present applicant in pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/538,250 discloses a closed tracheal suction device with a proximally located irrigation port which accesses the inside of the catheter and a normally closed suction control valve permitting unobstructed improved fluid flow. This advanced Russo device, while considerably less costly to produce than that of Palmer, is, however, still moderately expensive. The presently disclosed invention, however, presents a device of modified construction which produces the same improved results as the above referred to Russo device but at a significantly lower manufacturing cost. Accordingly, the present Russo invention provides a device with all the features of Palmer with additional safety and performance features for both the patient and healthcare worker at a much reduced cost enabling far greater use and distribution of the device to all patients.